Lacrosse began in America and the North American Indians played it before the time of Christopher Columbus.
It fascinated the French and eventually it swept Canada, becoming the national summer game by legislative act in 1867.
The Indians had many names for it, but the most common was 'bagataway'. The stick they used reminded the French Canadians of a bishop's crozier, and naturally they dubbed the game 'la crosse'.
The game came to Australia through Victoria, introduced by a Canadian, Lambton L. Mount, and Melbourne saw its first matches before 1874.
The Melbourne Lacrosse Club was the original body, but so many members left to form other clubs it rocked under the strain.
Some of the Melbourne members were invited, along with players from Caulfield, to form the MCC Lacrosse section in 1896.
So through those original Melbourne players the MCC traces its lineage back to the start of lacrosse in Victoria.